Allen Onyema, the Chairman and CEO of Air Peace airline, said that it is true that the company ordered for Boeing 737MAX 8, which after the airline ordered 10 of the aircraft it was involved in two fatal accidents in Indonesia and Ethiopia respectively, but like other airlines that have also ordered the aircraft, the Nigerian carrier would wait for the outcome of investigations before taking a decision on the order.
Onyema noted that all the airlines that had ordered the aircraft none has cancelled its order; rather, they are all waiting for the investigation and action that would be taken by Boeing, adding that Nigeria like many other countries of the world has banned the aircraft in its airspace.
He noted that the Air Peace does not have the aircraft in its fleet and wondered why Nigerians were attacking the airline, while nobody had attacked the carriers that have the aircraft and are operating the equipment before the accidents.
The Air Peace CEO frowned at the behavior of some Nigerians who mischievously created the impression that the airline already had the aircraft in its fleet even when the order it made would begin to arrive in 2023 and said that the airline was disappointed at the reaction of some of these Nigerians, remarking that instead of supporting their own they misinform the public in order to damage the image of the company.
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“We are not saying we are cancelling neither are we saying we are not cancelling because no airline that ordered for the aircraft had said it is cancelling. Everybody is waiting for the outcome of the investigation. What airlines that have the aircraft have done now is to ground them until the result of the investigation comes out. And at the same time countries are banning them from flying in their airspace until the investigation comes out.
“But I still wonder that air accident happened in Ethiopia, Ethiopians have never taken their airline that had accident to the cleaners. Ethiopians have never up to this moment attacked Ethiopian Airlines that bought this aircraft. South West Airlines has so many of these planes, no country has ever attacked those who innocently purchased these planes and who are already using them. We have 400 of these planes in active service, none of these countries where these plane are operating had ever risen up against their airlines for buying these planes. Not even Ethiopia and Indonesia that had accidents with these planes, their citizens never attacked them. However, Air Peace that does not have the aircraft has been taken to the cleaners by Nigerians for what didn’t even concern us,” Onyema said.
He said that before the airline made firm order for the aircraft it was not involved in any accident and noted that the aircraft is one of the fastest selling equipment in the world, adding that many other aircraft that were introduced in the past had hitches and these hitches were corrected.
“Before we ordered B737MAX it was not involved in any accident. In fact, that is the fastest selling plane under the sun. It is the most sought after plane in the whole world over. It was the dream of every airline to have a 737 Max 8 or 9. So we joined other reputable airlines in the world to order. When we made this 10 firm orders nobody applauded us. I didn’t see any excitement from Nigerians; that at last a Nigerian airline has started buying brand new planes, nobody did that, but when the aircraft was involved in accident, despite the fact that we don’t have the aircraft yet, some Nigerians started attacking us. What does that tell you?” Onyema asked.
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